Writers Read: Lisa Shearin

Friday, January 3, 2014

Lisa Shearin

Lisa Shearin is the national bestselling author of The Raine Benares novels, a series of six comedic fantasy adventures. Her new series—The SPI Files—is an urban fantasy that’s been described as Stephanie Plum meets Men in Black. The Grendel Affair, Book1 in the series, is now available.

I recently asked the author about what she was reading. Shearin's reply:

My TBR stack still takes up an entire bookshelf, but I have managed to decrease its population a little over the past few months.

Right now, I’m reading Project Maigo by Jeremy Robinson, which is the sequel to Project Nemesis which I read back in the fall. They’re in the same Kaiju genre as Pacific Rim.

I also discovered two really fun series. While both are written in the style of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books, the first series by Liliana Hart (Whiskey for Breakfast, Whiskey Sour, and Whiskey Rebellion) is lighter in tone. The second (January Kills Me, A Bomb in February, and A Violet March) by Evan Katy is a bit darker. Both series pack plenty of laughs.

Last month, I re-read The Sentinel, before reading its recently released sequel The Raven by Jeremy Bishop. How could you not love books with thousand-year-old Viking vampire/zombies? Toss in whales, walruses, and a polar bear that have also been infected with an alien zombie virus, and Greenland has more trouble than it can handle.

I’ve also read Deadly Heat by Richard Castle, the latest in the series based on the TV show Castle. And I’m plowing through quite a few of the books based on the TV series Supernatural.

James Rollins is one of my favorite authors. And his Sigma Force series as well as his standalone books are top notch. I’ve recently finished his Bloodline and The Blood Gospel. Last week I finished Two Graves by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I’m a huge fan of their entire Agent Pendergast series, as well as their standalones. Last month I finished Carpathian, the latest in David Golemon’s Event Group series. The Event Group is a secret government agency tasked with chasing down the hidden (and potentially world-altering) truths behind the myths and legends told throughout history.

Though if I had to pick a favorite of everything I’ve read lately, it’d have to be Mur Lafferty’s A Shambling Guide to New York City. It’s a mixture of a travel guide for supernaturals, and the adventures of the woman who wrote it. Sheer genius. I can’t wait for the sequel, which I think is due out in April: A Shambling Guide to New Orleans.